Instrumental Conducting Faculty

Phillip L. Clements is the newly appointed Director of Instrumental Activities at Texas A&M University in Commerce, Texas.  In this role, Mr. Clements serves as conductor of the wind ensemble, teaches courses in conducting, and guides the instrumental area within the Department of Music.  Prior to his appointment, Mr. Clements served on the faculties of the University of Miami, University of Texas at Arlington, the University of North Texas and taught in the public schools at Lake Highlands High School in Dallas, Texas.

A proponent of new quality music for wind band, he has been involved in commissions by composers such as David Maslanka and Christopher Rouse as well as regional premieres of works by Michael Colgrass and Donald Grantham. He is in continuous demand as a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator across the United States.  In addition, Mr. Clements has authored articles for the Instrumentalist and Fanfare magazines and lectured at state conferences across the Southwest.   He has also contributed to the most recent publication in the GIA series Teaching Music Through Performance in Band.   Mr. Clements has conducted at the Texas Music Educators Association Conference, the College Band Directors National Association Conference and in New York’s Carnegie Hall.  From 2005 until 2008 he served as the Associate Conductor of the Greater Miami Symphonic Band in Miami, Florida.

Also fluent in the area of marching band, Mr. Clements’ ensembles have been featured as the exhibition group at numerous Bands of America Regional Contests, State Marching Contests in both Texas and Florida, and at the prestigious Bands of America Grand Nationals Championships.  Active as a drill designer he has written over one hundred and fifty commissioned contest shows for marching bands across the country.

He is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, and College Band Director’s National Association and is an elected member of the Phi Beta Mu honorary bandmaster’s fraternity.

Todd Goranson, Asst. Professor of Saxophone and Bassoon, has served as the Jazz Ensembles Director at Texas A&M University-Commerce since January 2006.  He also teaches jazz improvisation and jazz history coursework.  Dr. Goranson holds a Bachelor of Music degree (Saxophone and Bassoon Performance) and a Master of Music degree (Saxophone Performance) from the University of Idaho. He earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree (Bassoon Performance) from West Virginia University in 2006.

An active saxophone performer in jazz and popular idioms, he has performed extensively throughout the  Northwest, Mid-Atlantic, and most recently in Texas and Louisiana.  Goranson has performed with artists including Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Claudio Roditi, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, and performed extensively with the Billy Price Band.  During his time in Texas, he has been a featured jazz saxophone soloist with the Plano Symphony for concerts at the Eisemann Center and Meyerson Hall, receiving praise from the Dallas Morning News.  Dr. Goranson has performed extensively in big bands, jazz combos,  jazz performances with orchestras such as the Shreveport Symphony and Irving Symphony, and as a freelance artist.

In addition to maintaining active private studios, Dr. Goranson has held previous teaching positions at Frostburg State University and the Cumberland Music Academy.  He is in his seventh season as principal bassoonist for both the Plano Symphony and the Irving Symphony orchestras.  He has also performed with the West Virginia Symphony, the Kingsport Symphony (TN), the Westmoreland Symphony (PA), Opera Roanoke (VA),  and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco.  Todd’s recent orchestral saxophone engagements have included performances with the Dallas Wind Symphony, Plano Symphony, Irving Symphony, Shreveport Symphony and the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra.   Dr. Goranson  has taught saxophone and/or bassoon master classes at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music, Oklahoma State University,  and Southern Arkansas University.  He has adjudicated for state solo & ensemble competitions in Texas and Idaho, was the director/clinician of the 2007 ATSSB Region 3 All-Region Jazz Ensemble, and was recently named Interim Board Member (Jazz) for the College Music Society South Central Region.  His principal saxophone teachers include Robert Miller, Barry Bergstrom and Curtis Johnson, and his bassoon teachers have included Ronald Klimko, Terry Ewell, and Winston Collier.